Former Colorado Buffalo Shilo Sanders probably doesn’t have the talent to consistently succeed as a defensive back at the NFL level. There’s a good reason the son of Deion Sanders went undrafted during the 2025 NFL Draft. It happens to a lot of people. Sanders also got ejected in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
These realities are (likely) not all that connected, as the Buccaneers waived the rookie safety on Sunday ahead of final 53-man roster cuts this coming Tuesday.
Let’s not get things twisted. Yes, it wasn’t a great look for the young Sanders to get ejected in a testy fight with Buffalo’s Zach Davidson. Yes, I’m sure Buccaneers leadership didn’t like how Sanders conducted himself here while throwing some punches. But the Buccaneers aren’t (only) making final roster decisions based on emotional, passionate, or outside-the-box factors that get to someone on the field. If you were already on the roster bubble like Sanders was, it was a lot more about Tampa Bay being unable to find something useful for Sanders to do than anything else.
It’s that simple. There’s no other logical motive.
Here is the play that got Shilo Sanders ejected. pic.twitter.com/7LRplnywzo
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) August 24, 2025
Still, and I don’t think this can be argued: This wasn’t the best way for Sanders to go out. Once things cooled down, I’m sure that he regretted the ejection almost immediately.
What’s next for Shilo Sanders?
At the moment, this isn’t easy to project. Undrafted players who don’t initially make final NFL rosters aren’t uncommon. Unless someone had a marvelous training camp and preseason in some facet while filling a roster need, most undrafted guys fail to make the final cut. Sanders isn’t alone here, and he won’t be the last player to experience this.
That said, if he clears waivers, the Buccaneers could, theoretically, still sign Sanders to their practice squad. Be it in Tampa Bay or otherwise, that would be the likely next course of action for Sanders, regardless.
Put another way: Sanders has a long way to go before he can even think about making noise for an NFL team.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Shilo Sanders ejection: Why Buccaneers didn’t waive safety because of fight